Scotland claim 'huge psychological advantage' over Afghanistan

Captain Preston Mommsen claimed on Wednesday that Scotland have a "huge psychological advantage" over Afghanistan as the Scots aim for their first win at a Cricket World Cup.

Scotland thumped Afghanistan by 150 runs in Abu Dhabi last month and the two International Cricket Council associate nations will meet again on Thursday at the World Cup.

Mommsen made 31 as Scotland set Afghanistan 214 for victory in January, before his team bowled the Asian side out for just 63 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, and the 27-year-old is convinced such a heavy defeat will weigh on the Afghanis in Dunedin.

"We take a huge amount of confidence from that game in Abu Dhabi, huge psychological advantage, I think," Mommsen said at a media conference.

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Funnily enough, only six days before their 150-run win in Abu Dhabi, Scotland had lost to Afghanistan by eight wickets in Dubai after scoring 237 in the first innings.

Afghanistan needed just 38 overs to reel in Mommsen's men.

Despite that, Mommsen is confident his team can notch Scotland's maiden World Cup victory on Thursday, with the British side failing at two previous attempts in 1999 and 2007.

"A win would mean a lot, I think, to us as a team, to the squad, to the staff and to everyone back home. We've gathered a huge amount of support in these first two games," he said.

"...It's something that Scotland has never done, and tomorrow presents a brilliant opportunity to actually go out and achieve that."

Mommsen hopes returning to University Oval can inspire his team after they pushed co-hosts New Zealand all the way at the Dunedin venue last week.

Dunedin has a strong Scottish heritage, as it is the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh and was founded by Scots in the 19th century.

"We're used to playing against Afghanistan in the UAE [United Arab Emirates] where they have thousands and thousands of support, and that genuinely does make a difference for the way they play. Hopefully for once we'll have more support than they'll have, and that'll give us an extra edge," Mommsen said.

Scotland followed up their loss to New Zealand with a 119-run defeat at the hands of England.